Ultimate Playoff: Title Game

[sooner n houston]

It is OU vs USC

Vote here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/ncaa/12/12/ultimateplayoff.titlegame/index.html?eref=si_topstories


OU leads 51 to 49%

[FlatheadSooner]

Uh oh, now about 50:50.

I've been voting about every hour.

Keep it up Sooner Nation - and the rest of the sane world!

:D

[Dan Thompson]

USC is winning.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/ncaa/12/12/ultimateplayoff.titlegame/index.html?eref=si_topstories

We're down by about 400 votes

[jccouger]

Come on! VOOOOOOOOOTE!

[WakeflyingSooner]

December 4, 2007
By VI News
VegasInsider.com
You can please some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all of the time.
So it is with the BCS' 2008 bowl selections.

Turn on a radio, open a newspaper or visit an online sports gaming forum and you're certain to see or hear someone loudly beefing about the matchups, particularly the Jan. 7 National Championship between LSU and Ohio State in New Orleans.

VegasInsider.com’s best college football handicapper Brian Gabrielle (61%, +2,410), who puts together the BGS Power Ratings, thinks the selection committee got it half right, while oddsmaker Ken White of Las Vegas Sports Consultants believes the BCS blew it on both counts.

One thing the two men agree on is Oklahoma, which finished first in both of their final regular-season power ratings, belongs in the title game.

"Realizing there is a lack of elite one-loss teams in the nation, LSU isn't the only two-loss team that deserves title recognition," said Gabrielle, who had the Tigers No. 2.

"Oklahoma is probably the best team in the nation with (Sam) Bradford at the helm and should get a crack at LSU to prove it."

White, however, would have given Rose Bowl-bound USC the second nod.

LVSC NCAAFB Power Rankings
Rank Team Rating Previous Rank
1 Southern Cal 110.7 4
1 Oklahoma 110.7 3
3 LSU 110.5 5
4 Ohio State 110.4 2
5 Florida 107.7 7
6 West Virginia 107.6 1
7 Virginia Tech 106.2 8
8 Missouri 106.0 6
9 Georgia 105.1 9
10 Brigham Young 103.7 11
11 Kansas 103.5 12
11 South Florida 103.5 12
13 Clemson 103.0 15
13 Boston College 103.0 10
15 Arizona State 102.9 14
16 Texas 102.5 16
17 Illinois 102.2 17
18 Michigan 102.1 18
19 Hawaii 102.0 19
20 Boise State 101.5 19
20 Texas Tech 101.5 19
22 Wisconsin 101.4 22
23 Arkansas 101.0 25
23 California 101.0 25
23 Arizona 101.0 24
26 Cincinnati 100.9 27
27 Auburn 100.7 28
28 Oregon State 100.0 NR
29 Tennessee 99.9 29
30 Kentucky 99.7 30



America's so-called national oddsmaker had the Trojans and Sooners tied for the top spot with 110.7 figures, followed by LSU in third and Ohio State.

LVSC sent the Tigers out as a 4 1/2-point favorite, but MGM-Mirage had the number at 6 on Monday while the Hilton had it at 5 1/2.

Like Gabrielle, White would've dispatched the Buckeyes to Pasadena, but to face Arizona State rather than Southern Cal.

White, a strong USC advocate throughout the season, contends the current bowl lineup robs college football fans of a true National Championship.

"What the fans are getting is a game between the third and fourth-best teams in the country," White said.

"The two best will be playing elsewhere."

Since Ohio State, which lost only to Illinois during the regular campaign, is headed to bayou country, the three-loss Illini got the Rose Bowl call versus USC.

Gabrielle and White both consider this a poor decision.

"I don't believe Illinois has any right to play in any BCS Bowl," Gabrielle declared.


USC and head coach Pete Carroll are listed as double-digit favorites over Illinois. (AP Images)

"I don't believe Ohio State has earned the right to play in the title game."

"Ohio State just didn't have the schedule to justify a National Championship berth and the rest of college football shouldn't be penalized due to the PAC-10's contract with the Big Ten for the Rose Bowl.

"Unlike the SEC and Big 12, neither conference has a championship game, so these two teams should have duked it out in the Rose bowl.

"Moving OSU to the championship game also ushered in Illinois, which is a slap in the face to much more deserving football programs.

"That private party (Rose Bowl) agreement between those two conferences needs to be addressed."

White views Illinois as too green to play in the Rose Bowl, which many consider the second-most important bowl behind the BCS title game.

"I think Oklahoma-USC would have been a more exciting game," White said.

"Instead, USC gets a clunker like Illinois.

"Illinois had a great year and the program is on the upswing.

"They have a good quarterback and (Coach Ron) Zook has done a good job building the program.

"It's just that, prior to this year, Illinois won eight games in four seasons. "They haven't been to a bowl game since 2001 and have no bowl experience.

"They're going to have, like Ohio State, 50 or more days between their last game and the Rose Bowl and they're going to have to play in USC's backyard.

"You want your bowl games to all be competitive."

Another thing on which Gabrielle and White concur is that the New Year's Day Sugar Bowl is the right place for undefeated (12-0) Hawaii, which will meet Georgia.

LVSC sent the Bulldogs out as an 8-point pick and the number was 10 at some books by Monday night.

"The Sugar Bowl is the right place for the Warriors, but that may be the one of the few things they (the BCS)got right," said Gabrielle, who would've had Hawaii facing either Arizona State or Boston College and put Georgia in the Orange Bowl versus West Virginia.

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White was impressed with how the Warriors rallied from a three-touchdown deficit to beat Washington State Saturday night.

"I still don't think Hawaii is one of the eight best teams in the country, but I love who they're playing," White said.

"It should be a great game and maybe even the best of the bowls.

"I can see it going something like Saturday night's game, with Georgia breaking out in front and Hawaii coming back to win.

"I see it being closer and more entertaining than a lot of people think."

Gabrielle sides with Missouri fans, who are upset that Kansas got an Orange Bowl bid to take on Virginia Tech after the Tigers beat the Jayhawks.

"I'm a big fan of what Kansas did this season, BUT they didn't win their own division, Missouri did, and it's the Tigers that deserve the Big 12's second bid," Gabrielle said.

"A strong case can be made for both Florida and Kansas as well, but BCS rules are quite clear that only two teams can come from any given conference.

"That said, teams deserving of the final spot outside of those two are Arizona State and Boston College."

Bet shops apparently disagreed with LVSC on the Fiesta Bowl spread.

The oddsmaking firm made Oklahoma a 4 1/2-point pick over West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl, but most books had it at 6 1/2 or 7 on Monday.

Virginia Tech was a 3 to 4-point pick over Kansas in the Orange Bowl.

Read it from Vagas!!

[Snrborn]

Getting farther behind. -700....

[SoonerLB]

Just voted, we need to rally some SOONER votes!

[amasooner]

count my vote... boomer sooner!

[kernalsanders]

we are down by 1457 crap

[sooner n houston]

We're getting killed now! 58% to 42%

[Youngsooner]

When people people get back on that USC bandwagon, they're hard to beat with votes. btw i voted

[soonersn2007]

I don't think it's so much bandwagon as it is that there are alot of homers in California...........if we had a ESPN map showing the votes per state we would win this electorally.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

42 - 58 for the condoms...

[Desert Sapper]

This is just rubbing our nose in the 2005 Orange Bowl again. Thanks, SI.